Chinese company Kunlun Wanwei, a leader in online gaming, is partnering with the Korean government to create an investment fund worth about $46 million to boost game development and to expand the global reach of game-related intellectual property.
Kunlun is the second-largest online game publisher in China. It has a market share of 20 percent and reports about $187 million in annual revenue , much of which comes from overseas operations like Kunlun Korea. The leader is Tencent, with 50 percent market share.
News of the fund was first reported by ThisIsGame, which covers the Korean game industry. Among the titles that will receive support from the fund are Three Kingdoms Online, Clash of Kingdoms, and Kungfu Online (pictured), which will be released through Kunlun’s global platform Koram Game.
“The reason for having the investment fund only in Korea is that we recognize Korean developers’ capabilities and know-how,” Kunlun Korea’s general manager MinGoo Kim told ThisIsGame. “We believe that games that succeed in Korea would also experience success abroad, too, and the Korean market deserves its value. Moreover, we thought it would be the best foundation for future global markets we are aiming for.”
Kunlun Korea opened last December with the free-to-play strategy game K3 Online. That title is expected to have at least 200,000 players before September, and the company intends to release KangHo and at least one more title in 2011. Another ten games are slated for 2012, although there may be more depending on how well the games perform.
In addition to several gaming platforms, Kunlun also owns software portal brothersoft.com and mobile portal 1mobile.com. One of its major investors is Chinese telecom equipment and terminal manufacturer Huawei Technologies.
Related Links:
ThisIsGame – http://tinyurl.com/3d7lf8w
GamaSutra – http://tinyurl.com/3hbyc7g
